Slow Progress
by ThisRedCat
Summary: Yukio manages to lose Shura while on a mission and isn't happy about it.  Hinting towards Shura x Yukio


This is my first piece of fanfiction, and I'm happy that it's about these two wonderful characters that I love so much. Really. I love this pairing and I hope that you enjoy this little fic, because there isn't much love for them out there. I would really appreciate a review too, it would help motivate me actually. Characters belong to the awesome Kazue Kato.

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><p>Yukio took the cross and beads hanging from his belt and yanked it loose. He took Shura's sword, still holding the blade with a trembling hand, and quickly set to tying the beads around the sword so that he could carry it in a similar fashion to how Rin carried Kurikara on his back.<p>

Despite trying not to look down, his eyes glanced over the blood at his feet and he forced himself to take a deep breath. He needed to stay calm. Shura was going to be alright. Even without her weapon... even.. without a weapon, that woman... _that woman_... would be fine.

A demon had dragged her off into the darkness of the woods, leaving him alone. Leaving _her _alone with God knows what. Yukio didn't even get a chance to take in the demon's appearance, just before it snatched his comrade away.

Without her weapon, she wasn't much of a knight at the moment but Shura was still an Aria, Doctor, and Tamer. So why...? Why couldn't he calm the hell down? Why did he feel so absolutely pissed off?

The smaller demons that had been creeping up behind the exorcist didn't stand a chance, being fired upon immediately once they began to charge. Because that's what he wanted... let the damned things _think _they had him before he blew them away.

The sound of his gunfire seemed to finally snap him out of whatever little lost trance he'd been in, because the youth took off into the woods quickly after that, following the small drops of blood he believed belonged to Shura.

"If there wasn't a trail of blood to follow, I could always track you down with the scent of alcohol. Right, Shura?"

Damnit, damnit, damnit! _Answer me, you damn bi-_

He froze in his tracks when he came across a familiar piece of clothing that had been caught on a broken branch. The woman wore so little anyway really... he might've found it humorous if it hadn't been for the little splatter of blood. He carefully reached for it, realizing it was the colorful ribbon she had been wearing around her neck.

Did this mean she had been injured around her neck...?

_No time for this. _Yukio quickly stored the ribbon away into his coat and continued to follow the trail. He knew he was getting closer when the smaller demons seemed to be coming at him in hordes, trying to swarm around him for the chance to catch him off guard and possibly knock both pistols from his hands. However, this was not such a good night for the gunslinger in terms of attitude... so his usual calm demenor was long gone, causing the young exorcist to leave one hell of a mess behind by the time he'd finished with them.

A part of him was also hoping to lure the other demon out by killing its smaller kin. Either that or maybe he'd just made it angry and now it was taking it out on Shura.

Yukio pressed on at that thought, unaware of how he was foolishly charging into the creature's trap. Or maybe he knew and just didn't care. To think that something.. some damned _demon_ might beat Shura, and not _him_...

"Shura!" he called into the woods, anger showing in his voice much like always whenever it came to this blasted woman.

The snap of a branch behind him caused him to whirl around, pistols poised and ready to shoot. It was a fairly large goblin, snarling and glaring at him before lunging. One bullet would have taken it down easily but he fired off multiple shots for the hell of it. "Where the hell are you, Kirigakure?"

He didn't notice the smaller demons behind him, sneaky little goblins, reaching for the sword he had strapped to his back. _Her _sword. Yukio really lost his composure with that, making a sharp sound like a growl as he turned to fire, only to have another demon come at him from the side and ram into his face.

Not only had it knocked his glasses off, but the lenses had been shattered too. If the young exorcist had one major weakness, it would have to be his poor eyesight.

_Quickly, quickly... _Yukio tried to fumble for an extra pair he carried in his coat, but all he could feel was that damned ribbon. The cool, damp touch of blood that stained it. His fingers kept fumbling with the piece of clothing... _Hurry, idiot, hurry! _

But when the same goblin rammed him in the head a second time from behind, all he saw was white. It sent him falling face first onto the ground. Screw it, he'd shoot blindly if he had to...

Before he could shake away the stars he was seeing, he caught the image of something slithering towards him on the ground. Before he could even acknowldege that it was a snake, one of _Shura's familiars_, it made its way right into the air to snatch and devour one of the goblins whole. It grew in size and began to take hunt the other demons that had been closing in on Yukio.

Before he could feel relief at the sight of that serpent, the young man felt himself being straddled from behind as a familiar pair of large (and soft) breasts pressed into his back, keeping him from getting up. "Shura..." he huffed, a little annoyed to have her weight on top of him. Despite the tickle it sent down his spine just then...

"Hello there, my blessed hero." she purred behind his ear with a smile he couldn't see. "At least... that's what I was going to say whenever ya showed up to save me. Looks like it's the other way around now though, huh?" she teased, poking at his cheek.

"It was awfully sweet of ya to bring my sword with ya. Better watch out or I'll start to get the impression that ya _don't _hate me." One hand gripped the hilt of the sword on his back while the other reached up front and into Yukio's coat, retrieving his extra pair of glasses. "We can't have that now, can we? So put yer eyes on and let's finish this!"

Frowning, or maybe it was pouting, he snatched the glasses from her and put them on while Shura took the sword from Yukio's back, taking the beads and cross with it. She seemed a little hesitant about getting off of him though...

"Are we going to 'finish this' from right here or...?" he asked impatiently, reloading both pistols. He tried looking over his shoulder to examine the woman's neck for a wound. There was a cut on her neck, but it didn't look too deep. Something that would heal up in a few days or so.

Shura held out her arm and called the serpent back once it had finished with the small pests. "Staying low wouldn't be such a bad idea actually... Cause the one that took me off wasn't the leader, so a bigger one'll be comin' any minute now." She caught him looking at her and grinned. "Ya sure came runnin' after me real quick, scaredy."

As expected, he only glared at her, making Shura snicker softly before looking up. "Time for the real show to start. Kirigakure Ryuu-Makengi... snake lance!" The sword quickly changed into a lance in time for the King Goblin to come charging out of the shadows and impale itself into Shura's weapon. Her thighs tightened around Yukio as she shoved the lance deeper into the demon's stomach. "Now, Yukio!"

He showered the creature with a rain of bullets, despite being in such an odd position, despite the pleasant _squeeze _of thighs on either side of him. Because this was definitely not the time to be distracted. More importantly, if he allowed her actions to throw him off in the slightest, then that meant _she would win. _Yukio wouldn't tolerate that.

When the screaming demon raised a large clawed hand, ready to crush the both of them, Shura quickly rolled off of Yukio and the younger exorcist jumped back out of the way before the goblin's hand came crashing down into the earth where they had been.

As the exorcists got on either side of their target, it became clear that while it was still willing to attack mindlessly.. it had weakened from the hits earlier. "Just once more, Shura."

"Think ya can land the final blow before me?" she taunted, raising the lance with both hands and ready to swing.

"Fine." he smiled softly, raising a pistol and firmly holding it in place.. aimed at the King Goblin's head. "And Shura..."

She had just begun to press her feet into the ground as she started to swing the end of the lance at the demon's center.

"I _might_ have been a little worried."

"E-eh?" her left foot slipped right from under her, and Yukio wished he could have seen her expression. Especially as he pulled the trigger. How nice it would have been to see her face as she must have realized... she finally _lost. _

But as the bullet had gone through the demon's head, the very middle of it had been cut in two from Shura's weapon, despite her little slip.

As the King Goblin's body began to slowly turn black and fade away, Shura's face now came into view for Yukio. He felt a little chill run up his back at the way she was looking at him now.

"That was real low, ya little cheat. _Bad_ wimpy, _bad_!" she yelled, her face a little flushed from what one had to assume was anger.

"Excuse me, but how was that any different from what you did to _me _the last time?" he replied, quickly putting his pistols away. When he looked towards her again, he noticed the beads and cross that were his now wrapped around the woman's waist like some fashionable belt.

She caught his eyes and looked down to where he was staring, smiling. "Ya like? I figured it was fair, seeing as how ya got to keep somethin' of mine too."

"What are you..?" _Oh. The ribbon. _"...That thing has blood on it, I don't want it."

"Well then why did ya pocket it, I wonder?" she grinned. Seeing as how they'd finished up now finally, she slowly stored her weapon away back into the seal on her chest. She seemed to recover from her anger rather quickly.

Yukio turned away from her and started back towards the way they had came. "Don't let the cut on your neck become infected." he told her, speaking to the woman like she were one of his students. And of course, he had completely ignored her question.

"Yes, sir." She stretched a bit before following after the other, her arms carelessly folded behind her head. When she had caught up and was walking at his side, she glanced over at Yukio from the corner of her eye. (He had become so tall... she was still adjusting.) "Ya know... I still won back there."

Without a pause, "No, you did not. I killed that damn thing first and you know it."

"Nyah haha... I still won though." she practically purred, lowering her arms.

When he was about to confront and argue with her, he looked over to see she was absent mindedly caressing the cross around her waist. He remembered the ribbon that was still safely tucked away into his coat. (And he also recalled the way Shura had so casually reached into said coat for his glasses.) "Hm." his eyes softened. "We'll settle this another time." Yukio suddenly didn't feel like fighting with the woman... for once.

"Next time." she sang softly, smiling.

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><p>*Yukio means "blessed hero"<p>

*And "wimpy" is another term Shura uses for Yukio in the English manga from VIZ


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